Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Wow I forgot to weigh in today! I blame my ambulatory phlebectomy! Or, more specifically, my required post- procedure compression stockings. Getting those things on is like a weird wrestling match with yourself that you cannot win! It took me forever to get those suckers on this a.m.  

Perhaps also in the back of my head is the fact that I had another poor week with little physical activity (besides the wrestling!).  I need to be more resilient! Instead of eating more because I am nervous about something, I need to talk myself down. I need to think hey- you are not burning any calories laying around recuperating, so watch the food intake Kay. I’m so weird. And why can’t I be pro-active instead of reactive? Anyway I’m back to work today (thank goodness for my diet’s sake), and my stitches will come out on Friday (woo hoo), and I’ll be able to say goodbye to my compression stockings. Honestly it will be a miracle if they make it through today. The best part of the whole deal is that my grody vein is gone! Woo hoo. Hmmm how much did that vein weigh? haha

I’m working on the pro-active, not reactive thing this week. Instead of mindlessly eating, then feeling badly about  “ruining” my diet day, how about I think before I eat, and make better choices. I’m pushing 50, and that 100 pounds is not going to just fall off people!  Planning and strategy, that is what I need.

Oh, and I have to confess, I had a soda. At docs, after the procedure, I had been there like 4 hours, and I had to wait a bit before I could leave and the girls offered me a  refreshment. Of course I took the Sprite (did your mom give you 7-Up or Sprite when you were sick as a kid too lol?), Anyway it tasted great and rejuvenated me for my ride home, along with some of those cheesy peanut butter crackers. The power of the junk food! It did not awaken any additional cravings for me for my formerly beloved diet cherry Pepsi and the Return to Fat Camp Fund continues to thrive!

Kay

Week #3 Grrrrrrrr

Grrr. Gained 2 pounds this week. Floundering. This gray, rainy, cold weather stinks. I was doing much better when it was more pleasant out and I was walking to work. Of course when you walk to work and carry your points with you, it’s much easier to stay in bounds! LOL There is a limit to how many points I can cram in my purse.

I’m going to join the gym as soon as my vein heals up.  I’m getting my varicose vein phlebotomized or something on Good Friday.  If that is TMI skip this paragraph. I admit I have been a bit nervous about that procedure coming up, and when I get nervous I eat.  If I was smarter I’d be concerned about getting that extra 2 pounds into these compression hose things I have to put on afterwards! Plus after it’s done I have to walk around the doctor’s office for an hour. I think that will be weird. Should be an interesting morning! LOL It will be good to have it all done. 

I think I’ll walk to work tomorrow even if it is raining. I do own a slicker, and I will not melt. And I need to do some meal planning. This winging it is not working, it never has.

Back next week.

Kay

Back Home - Week Two Weigh-In

Down one more pound. Had highs and lows with the points this week, both involving beer! LOL Boy beer makes me hungry! Beer is not points friendly! Get-togethers with my friends (at least the ones I really like!) usually (almost always!) involve food and beer, so I had best come up with a strategy to handle it 

Walked to work yesterday and this a.m. If I stretch the walk out a bit by going to the towpath, it’s about 20 minutes each way. So between walking to work and back home, and a walk on my Relaxation/Smoke Break, I’ll get about an hour in each day.  As an added bonus I pack up and bring my food for the day, have no car and bring no money, so no chance of skipping out on my healthy lunch for a less healthy alternative.

I’m going to continue walking to work, and I want to start some weights this week at home. My shoulder was doing a bit better, but then I tweaked it again toting the rummage sale stuff, so I need to  watch it again.  Found the sheet of exercises from the trainer with rotator cuff exercises so I’ve started those up again.

Set a mini goal of 8 pounds to lose by camping, in a little over a month.  For my big goal, I’m at 17 pounds, 83 more to go by June 11, 2012,  when I hit the big 5-0. Yikes! LOL

Planning is key for me. If I don’t decide what I want to eat, say for lunches, and go buy it and have it in fridge for Monday a.m., I’m setting myself up for disaster. And days off are not good. I'm already dreading Easter weekend. And dreaming of carrot cake! ARGHHHHHHHHH

And still no diet soda. The Can Man is going to be disappointed, I was a good supplier! LOL

Kay

Back Home Weigh In Week One

Down 4 more pounds.  Counting the 12 at Fat Camp, that is 16 so far.

So far counting points isn’t so bad. I am pretty much at my max every day, what a shocker! LOL  I like to save those extra points they give you for the weekend, when I struggle the most. I noticed less belly in some of my work clothes, a very good thing.

I haven’t been exercising as much as I should be, but I feel more active overall, not sitting around as much, both at home and work. I still have my sore shoulder from my pool volleyball at Fat Camp. It is annoying, but it is improving. Now when I roll over on it at night it is not so painful. I’ll give it another week and then reevaluate.  The shoulder is no excuse for not walking though. It is only an excuse for not having more KettleBell fun. And the KettleBell is fun, and very loud when you drop it. Clear your animals from the room people, that is my advice! And don’t get too close to the TV just in case that sucker flies out of your hand.

I told Holly, one of the fun trainers at Fat Camp, that I wanted to lose 100 pounds by the time I was 50, so now I’m making it public. If this is public. I guess it is. She told me it took her nearly two years, possibly suggesting that I wasn’t allowing myself enough time (I’ll be 50 in June 2012), but I told her that I had set that goal 6 months prior and had somehow managed to gain 15 pounds since then, so I don’t deserve any leniency. Tsk tsk.

Still haven’t had a diet Pepsi. Shocks me. My Return to Fat Camp Fund continues to grow due to my grocery savings on Diet Pepsi and other fast food.  Diet Pepsi makes junk food taste good, but healthy food taste bad. I think part of the reason fruit is tasting so much better to me is the absence of Diet Pepsi.

Back next Tuesday when I weigh on Biggest Loser Day.

Kay

Wednesday

Some thoughts since I got back from Fat Camp . . 

It’s harder on the outside. Weight loss is much easier in a protected environment. I’m too vulnerable to outside influences (clocks – if  it’s noon, I want food, signs  ---“CHICAGO DOG COMBO $3.95” can make me want a rotten hot dog, even at 8:00 a.m., commercials. Thank goodness McDonalds is flattened, so I don’t have to battle my drive-through breakfast habit). I’m not sure how to start paying more attention to my own body than the outside influences.  Definitely something for me to work on. 

There were a few ladies at Fat Camp that I wondered why they were there. They looked to be in terrific shape, strong and athletic, one had a tiny little belly, and the other was dissatisfied with her thighs.  I would trade them in seconds! I doubt that they would trade me though . . . . lol. I think there are very few women out there, and I mean in the world, not at Fat Camp, who are satisfied with their bodies. For the follow-up assessments, where you get weighed and measured again, one lady told me the first time she had a follow-up she was in the bathroom stall, weeping and shaking, she was so nervous. That bugs me that any woman would feel that stressed out over a scale and a tape measure.

I see clients at work battling addictions, and I’m glad food is legal. If it was illegal and expensive, I’m pretty sure I’d be in prison. Or (this is bad), if I were accepted, in Food Court.

Still no Diet Pepsi. It makes me think of that time I stopped smoking, and then started up again. If I start on the Pepsi again will I sneak it in private at first, then get more blatant about it, flashing a can now and then, and finally just start drinking it in the open, carrying my 12-packs boldly into the office?  For now I’ve started stashing my soda savings in a special fund, possibly for another Fat Camp Adventure!

And finally, POINTS are in, NETFLIX is out! Tuesday is my weigh-in date, just like on The Biggest Loser. 

And when I watch TV at home, no more just lounging around. Until close to bedtime I am sitting on my big red exercise ball “engaging my core”,  lol which is actually quite fun, except, that it terrifies Midge and Finnegan. Probably safer for the cats to keep a safe distance anyways . . . just in case! 

Kay 

Home

Back to real life. Gosh that 9.5 hour drive is long! My first home goals are to eat smaller meals, walk 3 times a week, and cut down on carbs at my evening meal. Baby steps. Oh, and to not spend so much time on the computer! I must cancel my Netflix subscription. Boo hoo.

I wish I had been able to stay at the spa longer. I had no idea how much I would like it and how much fun I would have. And to feel so much better after just one week!

I'm not sure how so many nice people get concentrated in that one area like that. It was incredible.

It's a darn good thing we didn't play that water volleyball earlier in the week, because my shoulder is so sore today I can barely move it! LOL

Not sure if I will keep this blog going or not, maybe I'll post once a week on my quest to be a bigger loser! Thanks for checking in folks!

Kay

Saturday

Saturday there are just classes til noon. It was rainy today, so after breakfast I did several laps indoors to warm up, then did a workout in the gym. Then off to an aqua aerobic circuit, aqua abs (ewww), followed by aqua stretch (ahhhh). Then it was time for my follow-up assessment. I lost 12 pounds and 17.5 inches. Can that really be true? LOL John lost 9 pounds and 7 inches. That felt pretty good. The trainer who does the assessments is named Holly and she is awesome. She lost 100 pounds herself, and now she is a mass of peppy, happy, healthy muscle. 

The trainer who did the aqua stuff today is named Barry and he is great too. I got a little mouthy yesterday. He asked if everyone was coming back to his Free Weight Circuit Class. That was the class I only made it through one circuit and slunked off. LOL  I told him I had successfully repressed that memory and I wasn't coming back. He told me "Don't be a smart ass!" and I had to do extra swimming pool jumping jacks. LOL  It was funny.

Then it was time for lunch. Some Mexican Cheese Pita thing. Probably my least favorite meal here. I couldn't find any cheese! But it filled me up so I'm not going to complain. After lunch I had a ball, playing volleyball in the pool. Six of us had a ball for 2 hours hitting that beach ball. I'm very very sore now though! Then it was rest time. I was tuckered.

Waiting for supper now. Already packed up a bit of stuff and hauled it to the car in preparation for the long drive home tomorrow. We will be leaving right after breakfast, which for me for the past few days has been a hard boiled egg, half a bagel with cream cheese, and fruit. Fills me up here, at home I'd probably eat 2 eggs and a whole bagel.  And no fruit! Weird how it satisfies me here. Tonight is movie and popcorn night, but I'm so tired I'm pretty sure I'll head back after supper to finish packing up. I had forgotten how tired the pool makes me when I actually do more than stand around and drink beer in it!

More reflections on Fat Camp later, but for now I'd just like to say that this has been one of the funnest vacations I've ever had, lots of laughs with new friends Julie, Maureen and Angie. Lots of other terrific people here too, but these are the girls who often sat with us at the "Loud Table in the Corner". LOL